PEORIA, Ariz. — It’s another season of the San Diego Padres’ usual soap opera, replete with ownership chaos and payroll intrigue. But Erik Greupner, the team’s longtime chief executive, insists this version of All My Padres won’t affect the club on the field.
The Padres’ ownership experienced an offseason of turmoil as the Seidler family publicly fought over who should be the team’s control person. A lawsuit filed last month by the Sheel Seidler, the widow of the late owner Peter Seidler, over control of the franchise raised questions about the possibility of a sale and potential relocation. It also spotlighted the team’s high payroll and on-field issues.
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“I have been told multiple times that the team is not going to be sold,” Greupner said this week outside the team’s spring clubhouse at the Peoria Sports Complex. “The Seidler family has said it’s a generational asset. This team is not going to be relocated. The commitment is to keep running it the way we’ve been running it.”
The Seidler brothers—who control the family trust, which includes 23% of the Padres—continue to insist the team isn’t being sold or relocated. In reality, the Padres are bound to San Diego by contract until 2034, 30 years after Petco Park opened, or until the city’s bond debt is scheduled to be retired in 2032.
Just before spring training started, MLB owners voted unanimously to designate older brother John Seidler as the club’s control person, subject to a 30-day waiting period during which his name must be added to the family trust.
Greupner said John Seidler should be around camp before the end of the spring. “You’ll get a chance to hear from him and ask him questions before opening day,” Greupner said.
On the field, the Padres continue to spend on new and existing commitments. They have a player payroll for luxury-tax purposes of $253.9 million, up from last year’s $227.8 million. That’s second in the National League West behind the No. 1 Los Angeles Dodgers at a near-record $400 million, and sixth in Major League Baseball.
The division might now be the toughest in baseball, with a total spending tally of $1.05 billion on players among the five teams.
The Padres are substantiating their own spending because Petco is a destination ballpark, and the Padres broke all club records for local revenue and an attendance of 3.3 million this past season.
“Our payroll is going up significantly year after…